How to grow a business from a bean January 26, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks student life and staple diets with James Eder, founder of marketing firm The Beans Group IN THE age-old debate over whether entrepreneurship is innate or can be taught, James Eder – founder of The Beans Group – makes a strong case for the former. At 13, he and his brother Michael created [...]
11 things to know about Val d’Isere January 12, 2014 It’s the ski destination to the great and good. Slopes veteran Cally Squires gives the lowdown on how to get the most out of this stunning downhill paradise 1. Ski with the crème de la crèmeThe resort hosted the Alpine Skiing World Cup last year, which saw golfer Tiger Woods turn out to support girlfriend [...]
Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur: Rules of engagement: My mini-masterclass in negotiation November 24, 2013 TWO elderly sisters sat opposite each other at their kitchen table, both eyeing up the single shiny orange between them. A silent solution presented itself, and they smiled and simply divided it in two. While this kind of natural goodwill had allowed them to live in harmony for many years, the reality was that it [...]
Standard Chartered would do better being more upfront December 16, 2013 BEFORE and during the financial crisis, which rocked so many banks to their foundations, Standard Chartered could seemingly do nothing wrong. While their rivals dodged in and around write-downs, rescue rights issues and increased impairment charges, the stock of both chief executive Peter Sands and his ebullient finance director Richard Meddings rose sky-high. So highly [...]
Springbok spicing up the wine market January 19, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Rowan Gormley, the South African taking on wine’s giants with venture Naked Wines THE DAYS of the wine snob – so brilliantly caricatured by Richard E Grant’s the Hon Simon Marchmont in the BBC’s Posh Nosh – could be coming to an end. It’s an industry long characterised by an assumption [...]
Arts and lifestyle highlights for the next twelve months January 5, 2014 From Glastonbury to Shakespeare to Matisse, you won’t be short of things to do in 2014 MUSICArcade Fire confirmed as headliners for Glastonbury 2014The Glastonbury 2014 lineup is being kept under-wraps until summer, but that hasn’t stopped rumours surfacing thanks to loose-tongued artists and hints dropped by organiser Emily Eavis. Arcade Fire instigated a flurry [...]
A classy end to a successful season of Michael Grandage December 12, 2013 THEATRE HENRY V Noël Coward theatre | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars OVER the course of Michael Grandage’s five-play season at the Noel Coward Theatre, the venue has seen star-studded casts perform parts as diverse as spliff-smoking fairies and cross-dressing soldiers. And now it is home to Henry V, which – although offering us nothing [...]
Modern drawing room farce disappoints, despite strong cast October 31, 2013 THEATRE RAVING Hampstead Theatre | Two stars I THOUGHT you didn’t agree with stereotypes?” says Keith to his wife Briony. “You’ve restored my faith in them,” she fires back, stingingly. Actor and playwright Simon Paisley Day obviously has plenty of faith in them, too – the whole of Raving is built on them. Keith (Barnaby [...]
Carney hails recovery as unemployment falls November 13, 2013 INTEREST rates could rise as soon as early 2015 – a year earlier than previously planned – thanks to plunging unemployment and a strong start to the recovery, the Bank of England said yesterday. Just three months ago the Bank thought it would take until 2016 before unemployment falls below seven per cent, its threshold [...]
Lloyd’s of London boss warns of flood of capital into insurance September 5, 2013 LLOYD’S of London chairman John Nelson last night issued a stark warning about the potential for a new financial crisis if the flow of investment funds into the insurance industry is left unchecked. Low yields on traditional bonds has led investors to seek new locations for their money such as catastrophe bonds, which are eating into [...]